The Treaties of Canada with The Indians of Manitoba and the North-West Territories | Page 5

in this Province and those then under consideration,
they were of good quality and sold readily at prices which enabled the
Government to be more liberal, they were also occupied by the whites
in such a manner as to preclude the possibility of the Indian hunting
over or having access to them whereas the lands now ceded are
notoriously barren and sterile, and will in all probability never be
settled except in a few localities by mining companies, whose
establishments among the Indians, instead of being prejudicial, would
prove of great benefit as they would afford a market for any things they
may have to sell, and bring provisions and stores of all kinds among
them at reasonable prices.
Neither did the British Government contemplate the removal of the
Indians from their present haunts to some (to them) unknown region in
the far West, as had been the case with their brethren on the American
side.

I told them that the two chiefs who were in Toronto last winter
(Shinguacouse and Nebennigoebing) only asked the amount which the
Government had received for mining locations, after deducting the
expenses attending their sale. That amount was about eight thousand
pounds which the Government would pay them without any annuity or
certainty of further benefit; or one-half of it down, and an annuity of
about one thousand pounds.
There were twenty-one chiefs present, about the same number of
principal men, and a large number of other Indians belonging to the
different bands, and they all preferred the latter proposition, though two
of them (Shinguacouse and Nebennigoebing) insisted on receiving an
annuity equal to ten dollars per head.
The chiefs from Lake Superior desired to treat separately for their
territory and said at once in council that they accepted my offer. I told
them that I would have the treaty ready on the following morning, and I
immediately proceeded to prepare it, and as agreed upon they signed it
cheerfully at the time appointed.
I then told the chiefs from Lake Huron (who were all present when the
others signed) that I should have a similar treaty ready for their
signature, the next morning when those who signed it would receive
their money; and that as a large majority of them had agreed to my
terms I should abide by them.
I accordingly prepared the treaty and proceeded on the morning of the
ninth instant to the council-room to have it formally executed in the
presence of proper witnesses--all the chiefs and others were present. I
told them I was then ready to receive their signatures; the two chiefs,
Shinguacouse and Nebennigoebing, repeated their demand of ten
dollars a head by way of annuity, and also insisted that I should insert
in the treaty a condition securing to some sixty half-breeds a free grant
of one hundred acres of land each. I told them they already had my
answer as to a larger annuity, and that I had no power to give them free
grants of land. The other chiefs came forward to sign the treaty and
seeing this the two who had resisted up to this time also came to the
table and signed first, the rest immediately following.

I trust his Excellency will approve of my having concluded the treaty
on the basis of a small annuity and the immediate and final settlement
of the matter, rather than paying the Indians the full amount of all
moneys on hand, and a promise of accounting to them for future sales.
The latter course would have entailed much trouble on the Government,
besides giving an opportunity to evil disposed persons to make the
Indians suspicious of any accounts that might be furnished.
Believing that His Excellency and the Government were desirous of
leaving the Indians no just cause of complaint on their surrendering the
extensive territory embraced in the treaty, and knowing there were
individuals who most assiduously endeavored to create dissatisfaction
among them, I inserted a clause securing to them certain prospective
advantages should the lands in question prove sufficiently productive at
any future period to enable the Government without loss to increase the
annuity. [Footnote: The annuities under these treaties have recently
been increased, the following item having been inserted in the Supplies
Act of Canada, viz., "Annual grant to bring up annuities payable under
the Robinson Treaty to the Chippawas of Lakes Huron and Superior,
from 96 cents to $4 per head, $14,000."] This was so reasonable and
just that I had no difficulty in making them comprehend it, and it in a
great measure silenced the clamor raised by their evil advisers.
In allowing the Indians to retain reservations of land for their own use I
was governed by the fact that they in most cases asked for such tracts
as they